Magic
Magic is a very broad term that encompasses many forms of spellcasting, rituals, and meditation. However, in Our Eternal Story magic is a common occurance and is universally used by the immortals (with one exception). There are many forms of magic, and all people are naturally aligned to a certain "element" (though some of them are a bit out there, such as "Space", "Life", or "Non-Elemental"). A person using their natural element will be capable of mastering it to a higher level than someone who isn't attuned to that element (though that's not to say they can only use that element) as well as use less magic power when casting spells of that element. As well, each person also holds a natural alignment to a Force, but these alignments can change based on certain factors of the heart. Magic Basics Every person has magical power inside of them, though how much they have varies from person to person. In many worlds there are species that are naturally attuned to magic (such as vampires or the fae) that naturally have a much higher capacity for magic than humans, however exceptional humans such as Nero do exist but are understandably rare. Using magical power requires a certain degree of knowledge in magic theory, which can be learned much like any other subject. Once someone understands the basics of magic's structure, they can begin to mold it into various spells. Magic systems vary from world to world, but throughout all worlds there are basic structures which are always the same. "All Worlds" Magic Once a being becomes immortal - whether it be human, fae, or even a cat - their bodies begin to produce "All Worlds" magical power. Normally magic is bound to the world it was created in, but those that wield "All Worlds" magic can use any magic form from any world, provided they learn it. Their spells will also work in all worlds, regardless of what world they originated from. All "true" immortals (those whose immortality comes from the Blood Pearls) use "All Worlds" magical power for their spells. Types of Magic Magic can generally be divided into three categories - Elemental, Unclassified, and Type. All Elemental spells form the core of their power from a particular element, and are better suited in the hands of one with that particular affinity. However Unclassified spells have no elemental affinity and work the same for all people with the only difference being their skill level. Examples of basic elemental kinds of magic would be Fire, Ice, Earth, Air, Water, or Lightning. These are all quite common affinities for people to have, and basic elements for manipulation magic to use. However there are also some stranger alignments such as Space, Life, Death, Sky, or Fairy which are either increadibly rare alignments to have or are exclusive to the race of the type (Fairy, in this example). The powers behind these magics can be varied and numerous. However sometimes a person will be attuned to the "Non-Elemental" side. Those who do not carry an affinity (hence "Non-Elemental") can use all spells well but cannot master them to the same extremes an affiliated person could. However, when used properly, people with these kinds of abilities can be a danger in their own way, as they also don't have a particularly bad element either, since they can work with all of them. "Type" magics are not elemental and cannot be an affinity. Rather they are specific kinds of magic that, while not elemental, are not "Unclassified" due to being a defined style of magic. Examples of type-based magic would be Dark and Physical Augmentation types. Darkness, rather than being an elemental type, are high-powered magic spells that all function in the same basic way. Similarly, Physical Augmentation spells all work to enhance the body or other physical objects in some way and operate on the same basic principles. Some magic can be classified as both "Elemental" and "Type" based, such as the Dragon Slayer magics from the "Fairies Chapter". These magics each have a different element at their core, but work on the same principle of channeling a specific brand of dragon's magic to manipulate said element uniquely. In addition to the above, there are two forces which can act on magic, Light and Darkness. These are different than the Light and Shadow Elements, as well as different from the Dark spell type. These forces are a constant in every universe, balancing each other out. Both Light and Darkness are natural, and in sufficient quantities both can be a corrupting force. It is important to remember that neither one is good nor evil. Anyone can use spells aligned to Light or Darkness, however their natural force will produce stronger results while the opposite will in fact be directly weakened. Duality Rarely a being will have an affinity for two (and in even rarer cases, more) magical elements. This kind of magic duality allows them to not only use the spells of either affinity to the point of mastery, but they can combine them in unique ways much more powerfully than non-aligned spellcasters. The only two dual-elementally aligned people in the group are Jackie and Nagihiko, who can use Light/Shadow and Fire/Earth, respectively. There is an exception in the fact that three of the Original Four (Nero, Crystal, and Jackie) all have an extra elemental affinity because a friend's soul rests within their own. Nero's brother allows him to master Fire magic in addition to his Ice, Belle's soul gives Crystal access to Earth magic, and Dmitri's soul gives Jackie an unprecidented third alignment to Lightning. No others have displayed this ability, but there is a possibility it exists in others such as Nagihiko and Rima who also stayed in their world long enough to experience the deaths of their closest friends. It remains to be seen, however. Casting Magic Casting magic is a simple process on paper, but is harder to execute than one may think. Initially one who has had no exposure to using magic must train themselves to be able to access the magical power they have inside, and from there they must learn to channel it in the way that suits that particular spell. Most high-tier magic spells will also require an aria - a set of spoken words used to invoke the spell. While in most cases they can still be used without an aria, the strength is dramatically decreased. For an example in channeling magic, the Basic spell "Storage" works on two ways - going in and coming out. To pull out an object from the user's personal "Space" they must be able to reach inside of themselves to that core space, as well as locate the object and then flow the magic outward so the item can materialize physically. And to put an item into the user's personal space they must reverse this process. All spells other than Space based ones work on the principle of drawing magic outward and then shaping it into the form of the spell. Certain spells may require the use of one or more magic circles - constructs that give instructions to help shape magic for larger spells. Magic circles can be scrawlled onto a surface such as the ground or a wall to prepare a spell in advance, or they can be created instanly by a mage by condensing their own magic in the shape of the circle. Forming these circles with their own magic is the sign of the starting point of mastering magic. Magic Color Each person has a certain "color" of magic. Though some colors may be similar, having the exact same magic color is rare and usually only happens within family trees. One's magic color has no bearing on the effectiveness or power of spells, but all magic circles produced by the caster will be in their magic color, and it can be used as a unique identifier for a person. One's magic color can only be seen if their own magic is collected in a dense enough quanity for the color to become apparent. This is why the surest way to find out a person's magic color is to get them to a level where using a spell with a magic circle becomes possible, because their magic condenses to form the circle thus showing the color of their magic. However, that requires such time that a preferable option for the curious is to gather as much of their magic as they can between their hands until the color becomes apparent.